Generation Debt

July quick hits

2008-07-01T20:33:26Z

The midsummer feeling of wanting to be on vacation (staycation, anyone?) has hit us, so here are few links to check out while we, er, check out for the month:

-Above The Law has an open thread about student loan debt (focused on lawyers, but applies to all borrowers).

-Some teachers in Montana will be getting their loans paid off by the state.

-Considering the cloistered life? Financial assistance for religious vocations.

-A story on student debt from In These Times: "'To leave college and enter the real world with such grave debt is a setup for failure,' says [a former Columbia College Chicago film and video major]. 'What good are well-educated kids who, right out of the cradle, have major financial obligations before most own a house, a car or know where the nearest grocery store is?'"

-A new law could help you get some debt forgiveness if you work in public service.

-Oh poor Sallie Mae - can't afford to consolidate loans anymore. But wait, Sallie Mae spent more than $1.4M lobbying in the first quarter of 2008. Priorities, Sallie Mae, priorities!

-Yet another armchair financial advisor who thinks that anyone who dares to complain about usurious lenders is a whiner.

Student loan debt clock: $539 billion.

Attention Non-Profits (And Non-Profit Job Seekers)

2008-06-06T13:37:59Z

Idealist, our favorite non-profit job site, is giving away free job postings for the month of June:

"Here is the story. Posting a job on Idealist usually costs $60 (we are a nonprofit ourselves, and this small fee keeps us afloat) but starting today, and through the end of June, all job postings on Idealist are free for any nonprofit organization.
We are doing this so that any organization can try us at no cost, and our ultimate goal is to bring you every nonprofit job that’s open around the country (as well as internships and volunteer opportunities, which are always free)."

Check it out.

Of crises and bailouts

2008-05-23T20:18:35Z

-The credit crisis is still, er, crisising!

-And the government (the President, Congress, the Fed) is still working on bailing lenders out.

-The source of the woes of most borrowers? The interest on their loans, which really adds to your student loan tab. Yeah, student loans are not such good debt to have.

-Loan help for Massachusetts physicians and nurse practitioners.

-If living a life of debt isn't enough for you, check out the film Maxed Out on Showtime to see it on screen.

Student loan debt clock: $534 billion. Wow!

Crunch, crisis, fiasco

2008-04-25T18:46:04Z

"Credit Crunch." "Lending Crisis." "Loan Fiasco." These phrases, and many variations on them, are being bandied about the media with more and more frequency these days. Seems the business of debt is floundering in many ways lately, and now the student loan business is starting to feel the pinch, too.

-Have a story about student loans that relates to the credit crisis? Tell it to ABC News.

-This guy thinks the student loan crisis is invented. Go on over there and tell him what you think.

-With the student loan industry "in turmoil", Congress is acting to shore up student loan companies. Funny, isn't it? A couple of years ago, it's all private jets and luxury trips, and now the poor lenders say they're in trouble (to the point of cutting jobs, posting losses, and discontinuing consolidation loans). We wonder if that really just means they aren't able to give their top executives bonuses as big as they've been in the past. And we also wonder, along with this writer, where's the bail out for borrowers?

-File under irony: You know how you borrowed all that money to get a degree to get a good job? Surprise! Your debt may make it harder for you to get a job. To take a quote from our current president and apply it to a different situation than he intended, we say, "Uniquely American, isn't it?"

-Finally, a note to make you smile, hopefully, from our new favorite website, Postcards From Yo Momma.

Student Loan Debt Clock: $483 billion.

The Ides of March are come (almost)

2008-03-14T19:56:27Z

And with the Ides come a few more student loan stories:

-Medical student loan forgiveness might be in sight, according to the American Medical News.

-Speaking of loan forgiveness, Daily Kos has a story on that very issue. And the Chicago Tribune has a story on student debt. And will the consolidation laws be changing anytime soon? Nope.

-Regarding money in general, check out the book Free Lunch and some stories about it.

-OneSimpleLoan Loses Lawsuit in U.S. Supreme Court, Yet Notes Victory as Catalyst for 'Single Holder Rule' Repeal.

-Student loan advice from Debt Adviser.

-Student loan stories from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette readers.

Student Loan Debt Clock: $478 billion and counting. Spring forward, indeed.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Tuesday

2008-02-05T13:25:05Z

The day has finally arrived, the day when over 20 states hold their primaries, and we the people get to voice our choices for the presidential candidacy, as well as vote in local races. We at GenerationDebt encourage those in today's primary states to get our and vote your conscience today, and vote for candidates that support student loan debt relief.

For background information on the candidates, take a look at Project Vote Smart and Politics 1 for candidate profiles and voting records. Check out Open Secrets to follow the political money. If you want to get into some deeper research, head over to Thomas billfinder for legislative information from the Library of Congress. It notes bills introduced, who introduced them, and who co-sponsored them.

Student Loan Debt Clock: $474 billion.

January updates

2008-01-23T21:35:23Z

Here's your close-to-the-end-of-the-month round up of student loan stories that caught our eyes in January:

-Along with all the news about the mortgage loan crisis, we're starting to hear rumblings of the same regarding student loans, from American Public Media.

-Candidates talking about loan issues? Well, a little. From NASFAA.

-Tax advice from Kiplinger.

-Loan forgiveness for firefighters is proposed, as well as for lawyers in Florida and Illinois.

-A year ahead preview on student loan issues from Inside Higher Ed.

-An OpEd on the legacy of debt, and another piece on debt in general (and one on student loan worries).

-More on those free money offers borrowers get in the mail.

Student Loan Debt Clock = $472 billion.

A Caucus Race

2008-01-03T18:59:35Z

"What I was going to say," said the Dodo in an offended tone, "was, that the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race."
"What is a Caucus-race?" said Alice; not that she wanted much to know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that somebody ought to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything.

"Why," said the Dodo, "the best way to explain it is to do it."

-Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Today it starts, the true kickoff to the 2008 presidential campaign: the Iowa Caucus. (For news and information regarding the Iowa Caucus, check out the Des Moines Register caucus section, Iowa Caucus 2008, and IowaCaucus.com. And for an overview on caucuses in general, check out this Wikipedia entry.)

To gauge the impact of the Iowa Caucus, check out this breakdown of past results from the Des Moines Register, which shows that a win tonight and a strong second place finish bodes well for those who end up in front. Now is the time to ask the candidates who come through your part of the country what they plan to do in terms of student loans. Do they care about those of us who are struggling to pay our loans under the yoke of usurious interest rates, or do they only care about future students? Are they for the citizen borrowers, or the corporate lenders? What are their stances on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, and will that reauthorization provide students and borrowers with much-needed relief?

Remember this quote from Sam Seaborn on the West Wing:

I worked in a State Assembly race in Manhattan in a district where Democrats outnumbered Republicans 16 to 1. But everywhere we went, there'd be one lone poster of a right-wing nutbar who wanted to to eliminate the income tax. And he was holding up signs and canvassing everywhere and bugging the local reporters until we had to comment on it. So I introduced myself to his campaign manager, and I said, "What are you doing? Your candidate doesn't have a chance and neither do your issues." He said, "This is what I believe. And no candidate gets to run in my district without speaking to my issue."

Make the candidates speak to your issue any way you can this year.

Student Loan Debt Clock: $ 470 billion.

Have a magical end of the year

2007-12-21T21:08:54Z

We at Generation Debt wish you the merriest and happiest of holidays.

Well you know, November has come...

2007-11-20T16:48:22Z

...and the holiday season is suddenly upon us. There are always plenty of stories about debt at this time of year, and this year is no exception:

-A Cornell student writes on the culture of debt.

-American Medical News writes on the student debt of physicians, as does CNN, while the Ledger Independent notes that public defenders have much student debt as well.

-NorthJersey.com has an article on graduates buried by debt, as does the News Advance.

-In Illinois, the Quincy Herald-Whig reports that "Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced last week $1.22 million in grant funding for Illinois Veterans Home nurses who are paying off student loans."

-GenDebt Commenter Joe has started a website called Advice On Time to provide free advice on all sorts of issues, including some debt issues.

-Meanwhile, Congress is still working on reining in student loan lenders' deceptive marketing practices.

Student Loan Debt Clock is at $465 billion.

Have lovely Thanksgiving from GenerationDebt.

No October Surprise here

2007-10-30T20:08:34Z

When October rolls around, my thoughts run to electoral politics, whether it's actually an election year, or, like this year, just feels like one (the presidential election is still well over a year away, I'm getting tired already). So check out some stories on the student loan positions of those jostling for the presidency in 2008 from The Chronicle of Higher Education (also here and here) and The Times and Democrat.

-More stories on Congessional student loan reform from The Seattle Times, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Coumbia Spectator, The New Paltz Oracle, The Sheboygan Press (this one is against government student loans), The Washington Post (letter to the editor), and The Toledo Blade.

-Stories on the student loan debt burden from The Contra Costa Times, The Columbia Tribune, CBS News, Daily Press, Business Week, The Buffalo News, The Daily Bruin, The Pepperdine Graphic, and The Winston-Salem Journal.

-In other news, D.C. has a program to help medical workers pay student loans in exchange for service in low income parts of the District, Scott Burns wonders if going to college pays, and Kiplinger discusses whether student loans affect a mortgage application.

Student Loan Debt Clock is at $462 billion - looks like we're back to a growth spurt.

A little autumn debt reading

2007-09-20T17:15:06Z

And away we go...

-Articles on recent student loan legislation from: AEI for Public Policy Research, The Village Voice, Reuters (also here), The New York Times, The San Francisco Gate, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, PBS, USA Today and The Star-Telegram.

-Articles on student/graduate debt from: The Chicago Tribune, BusinessWire, NJ Voices, Time, The New Yorker, The UNLV Rebel Yell and The West Virginia Record.

-Alan Collinge thinks that the recent student loan legislation didn't go far enough. And here's an article from Anya Kamenetz on debt issues in the upcoming presidential election. USA Today advises consolidation "only if it's right for you".

-Finally, just for fun (er, sure, fun), check out this inflation calculator. Calculating what someone who graduated college in, say, the 70s or 80s paid in terms of today's dollars can be eye-opening.

Student Loan Debt Clock: $458 billion - is the new loan legislation helping to lower the clock?

The dog days of debt

2007-08-09T16:51:35Z

As the days of August swelter on, there's still plenty of student loan news to report. While many in the media are focused on those students just starting out on their debt journey, there are still some that remember the borrowers who are already stuck in it for the long haul. And so we trudge on...

-Not content with sticking it to college students, our friends at Sallie Mae now offer loans for parents for K-12 private schools. Just like the tobacco industry, the student loan lending industry likes to hook 'em young.

-Alan Collinge of Student Loan Justice writes about Sallie Mae's march toward monopolizing the student loan industry.

-More on the student loan scandals from ABC News, the Brandenton Herald, CBS News, Inside Higher Ed, The Daily, and the Washington Post.

-New legislation and potential legislation in Congress may help some or hurt some, reports Inside Higher Ed (also here), the New America Foundation, CQ, the Chicago Sun-Times (also here), the Washington Post letters page, MTV, the Earth Times, US News, NPR, AM New York, News and Tribune, the Post Crescent, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the St. Petersburg Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Springfield News Leader.

-The stories on student debt in general are still coming out, too, such as these in The Nation, the San Francisco Gate, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Omaha World-Herald, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

-One group, the Business and Media Institute, claims that the media are picking on the poor lenders in their news portrayals, mentioning the demonization of lenders and a victimization theme when it comes to borrowers.

Student Loan Debt Clock: $487 billion and ticking away more every second.

Pic via Pandagon.

The postman always rings twice, or thrice, or four times, or five...

2007-07-11T17:25:09Z

I get a lot of mail. I get the usual things: bills, catalogs, invites, cards, credit card offers, charity solicitations, etc. But by far my favorite type of mail has to be the loan consolidation solicitation. I get multiple pieces of mail every week from lenders who want to consolidate my loans, who want me to know that they can save me money, who want to advise me about rising interest rates, who just want to help me, really. I always read them before throwing them away. I always want to know what totally inflated offer of help they purport to give me this time.

My favorites are the ones that come with promises of cash. PCFS would like to give me a $300 MasterCard gift card to show their "appreciation for your testimonial about our free service." Call them up, and find out that the free service is student loan consolidation, and oh so sorry, I'm not eligible. Collegiate Solutions would like to give me $300 cash back on my first loan payment once I consolidate with them. Erie Processing Corporation would like to reward me with a $400 gift card on my student loan consolidation. And Xanthus Financial Services tells me I've been selected to receive a "federal student loan rebate in an amount up to $2,000." Oh really? Since when do the feds offer rebates on student loans? Since never.

My all time favorites, however, have to be the offers that come through every so often from my own personal demon lender: Sallie Mae. They say I could save hundreds, even thousands, by consolidating with them! Amazing how they don't check their own loan files to determine that they're already sucking me dry on loans that were consolidated with them and aren't eligible for refinancing (and their lobbyists are making sure it stays that way). Kind of makes you wonder if they're just pouring salt in my student loan wounds because they can.

Notes on a scandal

2007-06-06T16:30:30Z

The main story in student loan news these days is growing coverage of the student loan payola-style scandal. It basically breaks down into this: Lenders and schools have/had deals whereby schools would push students to a certain lender or lenders in exchange for kickbacks from the lenders.

For those of you wondering if this scandal has or had any impact on those of us with consolidation loans we're now stuck with, the answer is a resounding yes. I remember heading to the financial aid office as a first year law student, asking about financial aid, and being given paperwork from two lenders. I remember not being specifically advised that I could or should shop around (yes, I was naive, and yes, many students are, making them a ripe target for this sort of thing). I remember going with one of the two proffered lenders. I remember having to then consolidate with that lender when I consolidated in 2001, as the single lender rule was still in place then. And now I'm locked in a loveless marriage with a lender that takes my high interest payments and hands them over to a CEO who uses them to fuel a private jet to fly Congressmen to vacation spots. Yes, I can see a connection between this scandal and the way things are now.

More on the scandal from The Tomah Journal, Campus Progress, US News, Medill Reports, OnPoint Radio, Guardian UK, The Times-Gazette, Salon, Reuters, and Reuters again (Senate hearing on student loans is today, by the way).

It's also interesting to note that the Department of Education has now changed its rules regarding federal student loan programs, requiring "universities to include at least three lenders on any list recommended to students and that would ban many of the incentives loan companies have been offering colleges and university officials to win student business."

In more general loan news, here's an opinion on debt burden from the Asbury Park Press, a piece on candidate stances on student loans from the Yorktown Patriot and one from Inside Higher Ed, an article on Obama's loan stance from Reuters, a story on debt from the Patriot Ledger, a story on debt from Gloucester County Times, a column about previous consolidation from CNN, a story on rising debt from the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, commentary on another way to pay back loans, a plea for loan relief from someone writing in to the LA Times, an analysis of Sallie Mae using racial politics from CNN, and a feature on being young and in debt from USA Today.

Finally, for all of you out there who have thought of filing an antitrust lawsuit against your lender, the Supreme Court just made it harder. "By a 7-2 vote in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, the Court said 'a bare assertion of conspiracy will not suffice' to get beyond the summary judgment stage in claims under §1 of the Sherman Act." Which essentially means that plaintiffs will have to have proof of conspiracy in the pleading stage, not an easy thing to get early on in a case against a big corporation.

Student Loan Debt Clock: $477 billion - growing faster than a duck pouncing on a Junebug.